Boy, 5, shot in Ford City remains in critical but stable condition

FORD CITY, Pa. - A 5-year-old boy was flown to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh late Wednesday morning after being shot inside his Ford City home in Armstrong County, state police confirmed.

State police said officers responded to Fourth Avenue for a report of a child shot and discovered the 5-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound to his collarbone area. He was taken to the trauma unit at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, where he underwent surgery.

During a 2 p.m. press conference, state police said they were working to confirm whether one adult was in the residence at the time of the shooting. Authorities said so far, there hasn't been any decision on any charges in the case and it is currently being treated as an accident.

“Waiting on results of the treatment of the child and that will determine where the case goes from there,” said Armstrong County District Attorney.

Channel 11’s Amy Marcinkiewicz has since learned from sources that the father and his three sons were home. Sources said the father was asleep upstairs, and his three sons were downstairs eating breakfast when one of the boys found a handgun and starting playing with it before it went off.

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Marcinkiewicz reported that the father had taken out guns to use at a bachelor party over the weekend. Sources said they were found in the kitchen.

Neighbor Mike Gratteri said he saw one of the boy’s older brothers rush out of the house.

“He came running out. He was screaming, only in his underwear, ‘My brother has been shot,’” said Gratteri. “I told them to come over to the house and get them cleaned up because he had blood all over his arm.”

Gratteri said he knows the family well. He told Channel 11 that the boy’s mother was at work and the father was watching his three sons when the shooting occurred.

“I grabbed the little boy. I took him in, cleaned him up and we kept him,” said Gratteri.

State troopers were questioning the family and secured a search warrant for the home Wednesday afternoon.

Marcinkiewicz reported that troopers were seen carrying at least five guns and four boxes of ammunition out of the house.

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Authorities said Thursday that they’re now waiting for forensics and ballistics before turning the case over to the district attorney who will decide whether charges should be filed.